Support means for vertically slidable windows, doors, and the like



L. B. LAMBERT ET AL SUPPORT MEANS FOR VERTICALLY SLIDABLE WINDOWS, DOORS AND THE LIKE Filed July 11 1947 March 29, 1949.

ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 29, 1949 SUPPORT MEANS FOR VERTICALLY SLID- ABLE WINDOWS, DOORS, AND THE LIKE Lawrence Basil Lambert and Robert William range,. Auckland, New Zealand Application July 11, 1947, Serial No. 760,438 In Newzealandi August 14, 1944 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8,1946 Patent expires June. 25, 1965 1 Claim. I

This. invention relates to. vertically slid'able windows, doors and the. like and has for itsobjects the provision of improved means applied to the windows, doors and. the like. for. the support thereof in the window or door frame, such support means enablingthe. window or door to be retained in any open. position asdesired; substantially eliminating any tendency to. rattle; enablin easy adjustment, repair or replacement if and when; required. and being. of a. compact form whereby the window or door. frame is appreciably simplified.

At present in. respect. of vertically, slidable type windows or. doors, sash weights and cords are applied to each side edge of the window or door, the weights being. housed within cavities Within the window or door. frame, these window frames requiring to be extra wide andheavy especially if. of the double frame type for. the. housing of the weights andinthe event. of, a sash.- cord breaking, considerable dismantling of the woodwork is involved in order that arepair be effected, windowsand doors. of this type being also notorious for rattling.

By our. inventioniimproved supportv means: are providedwhich are completely housed within. the window or door andrequireno speciahprovisicn in respect of thec framawhich is thereby appreciably simplified in construction: and reduced in bulk, the windows or doors themselves requiring only. a simply efiecteri. alteration. in order that they be ableto-housethe support means.

Broadly the invention comprises improved support means for 'vertically slid'able windows, doors and the like. wherein. the support means are housed within slots or channels formedrin the side edges of said windows or doors, said support means comprisingbow' spring means secured withinsthe slots or channelssand adapted to. curve j towards the outside thereof; said bowsprings carrying ramp means on-.-. which are: slidably mounted shoe means for bearingagainsttherwindew or door frame, means rbeinezrpi'ovided whereby the extent of pressure applied by the shoes to the window or door frame is adjustable.

In describing the invention reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a sectional side elevation of a window or sash and its frame with the support means applied.

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the window.

Figure 3' shows an enlarged elevation of the lower end of the support unit.

Figure 4 shows the position of the shoes while the window or sashis being moved upwardly in its fian're.

Figure 5 is a. sectional plan view of the edge'of the window showing the projection of the shoe.

in the invention, the only requiredv alteration to the window sash I (or door) is the provisionof a. slot or channel 2 in each of. its two vertical side edges 3' which are adjacent to the window or door frame 4', the support units 5 being housed within the slots or channels 2 and completely hidden.

These. support units 5 comprise in-the preferred form, upper and lower bow springs Band T secured together at their inner ends to a rigid non-bendable connectingv bar 8 of preferably channel cross section which will be a. neat'but slidable. fit within thechannel Z, the outer end of. the upper bow spring 6. being anchored to the window I as by a. screw 9" and the outer end of the lower bow springr'l'also anchored, but in an adjustable manner by being riveted to a rigid base strip l0- (seeFig. 3). which makes aneat but slidable fit in the channel 1 and has-a rightangle bendv Ufa through which an adjustment screw H freely passes, such, adjustment. screw 11' screwing through a crossbar or pin. I'Z which will' b'e engaged in thewindow to. extend across the slot'or channel 2 therein.

.The adjustment screw l-l wilLpreferably but not necessarily havea sleeve on distance piece t3 fitted thereonbetweenitsl'iead andthe base strip portion a, thisbeingforthe purpose ofenabling the. head of the. screw I I. to: extend to a position near: the open bottomend of. the slot or-chan'neL 2 for. readily accessible adjustment purposes.-

To. the outer or. convex sidesof each of the upper. and. lowerbow springsfi-and'l thereare shoe. carrying; ramps Il -and: I 5, these each being formed-0t bent rod or-like-riveted [G -to the" bow spring and having a free lower end I! which is slidable through a hole I8 in an angle bracket 19 secured as by a rivet 20 to the bow spring.

Slidably mounted on each of the ramps l4 and I5 there is a contacting shoe 2! which presents a flat face 21c adapted to extend beyond the side frame 4, these'shoes 2| preferably having shoulders 2| 1) (see Fig. to limit extent of inward movement thereof into the channel 2 and being slidable on the ramps l4 and I5 by having journals 2|c slidable on the latter, light compression springs 22 being disposed over the ramps l4 and I5 between the shoes 2| and the angle brackets l9 to yieldingly tend to move the shoes 2| to the upper position as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

The window sash i will be retained in or guided against the window frame 4 by the usual removable bullnose or like strip or batten 23 secured to the said frame 4 (see Fig. 5).

While it is preferred to have a support unit 5 combining upper and lower bow springs 6 and 'l with their respective ramps I4 and i5 and shoes 2|, it will be obvious that there could be two units to each window side edge each composed of one bow spring, ramp and shoe and each separately anchoredv by a screw and having an outwardly disposed adjustment screw.

The spring action of the bow springs 6 and is such as to naturally tend to move the shoes 2| outwardly from the edge 3 of the window (or door) so that these shoes 2| will press against the frame 4 to a moderate extent which however is capable of being increased or decreased by movements of the adjustment screws H.

For general window or door purposes, two complete units 5 (one unit in each side edge) will be ample to effect the desired support as presenting two shoes bearing on each side of the frame, but in the case of exceptionally heavy windows or doors, units could be provided having more than the two shoes each with corresponding bow springs.

In use or operation, the window or door I as the case may be, may be provided at the factory with the units 5 fitted thereto, or if desired the units could be fitted to existing windows provided same are removed and the channels 2 formed therein, the frame 4 requiring no special provision for receiving the window or door,

To fit the window I, the usual bullnose strip or like 23 is removed, thereby allowing insertion of the Window in a normal manner except in that the shoes 2| may offer some slight yielding resistance, the bullnose strip '23 being then replaced 'to thereby act as the retaining guide to permit of vertical guided movements of the window.

In accordance with the weight-of the particula window or door, the degree of pressure the shoes 2| will apply to the frame 4 is variable by test, and if the window will not stay up when pushed up, the adjustment screws H of the units 5 are adjusted to cause them to move towards the fixed crossbaror pin l2, this having the effect of moving the rigid base strip ||l inwardly, incidentally shortening the distance between the outer ends of the bow spring 6 and I so that they tend to curve outwardly to an increased extent, but being unable to do this, they transmit increased outward pressure on the shoes 2| so that the latter 4 sure from being all that is required to close the window.

To open the window from the downward closed position, it will be obvious that (contrary to sash weight windows wherein the sash weight substantially counterbalances the weight of the window) it is necessary to lift the full weight of the window and but for the provision of the ramps l4 and I5, such weight plus resistance to movement caused by the shoes would be excessive.

However, when the window is to be raised, such upward movement thereof in the initial stages will cause the shoes 2| to lag behind to an extent which will be equivalent to the extent of movement the shoes 2| are capable of making on their ramps M and IS in compressing the light compression springs 22.

This travel of each shoe 2| along its ramp I I or Hi from the highest to a lower position thereon (as shown in Fig. 4) causes a great easing of the pressure applied by the bow springs 6 and 1 to their respective shoes 2| and thus the window is substantially easily lifted, but when I released, falls to the small extent required to cause the shoes 2| to be moved on their ramps I4 and I5 back to the normal position as shown in Fig. 3, whereby full pressure is re-transmitted to the shoes 2| so that they resist downward movement of the window.

Obviously the shoes 2| will never release their application of pressure on the window or door frame 4 and thus the window or door will never have any degree of slack in its mounting to the frame to enable it to rattle.

We claim:

Improved support means for vertically slidable windows, doors and the like comprising a support unit having two bow springs secured together at their inner ends by a non-bendable connecting bar, the outer end of one bow spring being secured as by a screw to the Window or door and the outer end of the other bow spring secured to a rigid base strip, an adjustment screw passing freely through a right angle bent portion of the base strip and screwing through a crossbar or pin which is secured to the window or door to extend across the slot or channel thereof,

,-ramps of bent rod riveted to the outwardly curved faces of the bow springs and having their free ends slidably fitted through angle brackets also secured to the bow springs, shoes slidable onfthe increase their pressure on the frame 4 to an extent which by the adjustment, will be just sufficient to enable the window to remain held or supported in desired open positions, but not so great as to prevent reasonable downward presramps and compression springs on said ramps adapted to yieldingly move the shoes to the higher portions of said ramps substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.

LAWRENCE BASIL LAMBERT. ROBERT WILLIAM ORANGE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of thispatent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Moroney July 1, 1941 

